Hurts and Senior Bowl Talk

Posted: February 1st, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 2 Comments »

The Eagle won the NFC title game by 24 points. They did that with great defense and an effective running game. Jalen Hurts did not have his A-game. He made winning plays. He certainly affected the game. But Hurts didn’t look like the MVP candidate we saw all year.

A lot of that is due to the SF defense. The scoreboard might show them giving up 31 points, but that group played pretty well, especially under the circumstances.

They only sacked Hurts once and hit him twice, but it felt like the rush affected him.

https://twitter.com/theqbschool/status/1620489718185037824

They were disciplined and didn’t get too far upfield. They tried to keep Hurts in the pocket. If he wanted to scramble, he had to go back and outside. Then they used speed to chase him and keep Hurts from being able to find guys downfield.

I was surprised at how well the Niners covered. I thought AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith would get the best of their corners, but the DBs held their own.

The Eagles blew chances. Hurts missed a wide open AJ for a potential TD. AJ dropped a pass that might have moved the chains. AJ failed to catch a pass that would have given Rex Kern more room on a punt. Hurts did complete a third down pass for a short gain, but had a WR streaking down the sideline uncovered. There were a couple of plays where Hurts gave his receivers a chance to make plays down the field, but they couldn’t pull it off.

The passing game wasn’t good, but it was good enough.

I said Hurts made winning plays, and he absolutely did. This play led to a huge third down conversion.

https://twitter.com/theqbschool/status/1620444293931433988

The 4th & 3 play was also huge. The Eagles got lucky with the ruling of a catch, but Hurts and DeVonta did some amazing things. Hurts signals to DeVonta and then makes a terrific throw on the move to even give DeVonta a chance. And then DeVonta had the presence to get up and let everyone know to huddle up right away.

I also mentioned that Hurts affected the game. It is absolutely amazing to watch defenders fixate on him when the Eagles are running the ball. There is no stat for “tackles prevented”, but Hurts does that each and every game. Fred Warner is probably the fastest LB in the league. That speed does him no good if he’s standing still and watching Hurts while a RB is headed for the end zone.

Hurts is a weapon even when he doesn’t have the ball.

Hurts running wasn’t a factor in the first half. He had 4 carries for -1 yards. The Eagles called some designed runs in the second half and Hurts got going. He was 7 for 40 and a TD. This was the highlight run.

Plays like that are why teams are scared of Hurts keeping the ball. They know what a playmaker he is.

Let’s also point out that Hurts didn’t have any turnovers. The Niners, with the best defense in the league, had forced at least 2 turnovers in a game for the past 5 games. They came up with INTs, FFs and strip sacks. They got the best of a lot of different QBs and teams. Hurts gave them nothing.

He will need to play better for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. KC will score points. The good news is that the Chiefs don’t have the best defense in the league. Hurts and the Eagles should be able to move the ball and score points.

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Good news.

The interior of the Eagles OL will have a huge challenge in trying to contain DT Chris Jones. He is the one game-wrecker the Chiefs have on defense.

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SENIOR BOWL STUFF

I don’t think Lane Johnson will retire at the end of the season, but his career is winding down. The Eagles might start looking for his replacement in the upcoming draft. With that in mind, I kept my eyes on some RT prospects.

Dawand Jones is the most interesting prospect. He is huge. Jones is bigger than Jordan Mailata.

That is the longest wingspan in the history of the Senior Bowl. Wow. Dude is mammoth. He’s also a good player and he had a really good opening day. Jones was exclusively at RT as far as I could tell.

He was an up and down player in 2021, but worked hard in the offseason to fix his game. Jones played with better leverage and better balance this season. That carried over to today. He has to work hard to play with good pad level. Bending your knees doesn’t come naturally for a guy who is 6-8. Jones keeps those knees bent at the LOS, but he is too upright in space. That’s true for many OL, but is worse when you’re as tall as he is.

Jones faced a variety of rushers and handled them all. He just overwhelmed some with his massive size and crazy length.

Jones will be a starting RT in the NFL. I don’t know that he’ll be a 1st round pick, though. People will love his upside, but also be nervous about his issues. Edge rushers that play with good pad level could eat him up.

Will the Eagles be interested? This is tricky. I think they’ll love his size and potential. Jones is a much better prospect than Mailata and the Eagles obviously picked him. There is one big difference. Mailata is athletic. All the Eagles OL are athletic. Lane Johnson is a former TE. Jason Kelce is a former LB. Mailata played rugby. Landon Dickerson started at 4 OL spots at Bama. Isaac Seumalo can play any position on the OL and is a freaky good ping pong player.

The Eagles love OL who can pull, block on the move and play in space. Jones struggles in those areas. Would they make an exception with him because of his potential in other areas? I’ll need to keep watching him to figure out if he can develop into a better space player.

Jones went to Ohio State so it is kind of funny that the other guy I checked out is Ryan Hayes of Michigan. Hayes started at LT for the past two seasons and played well. He has more of a normal OT build at 6065 and 305 pounds. Hayes could play LT in the NFL, but there are so many LT prospects down here that he was moved over to RT to see how he’d do.

I thought Hayes had a solid day. He got destroyed in one rep by DE Isaiah Foskey and I’m sure some people will turn that into a bad day. I saw plenty of good reps.

One of the reasons I wanted to focus on Hayes is that I liked the athleticism he flashed at Michigan and thought he would be a good fit for the Eagles.

https://twitter.com/BernienChompz/status/1618879307618856960

Unlike Jones, Hayes can pull. He can block on the 2nd level. He’s got good feet. Hayes is a good run blocker, but also an effective pass protector. I’ll be checking Hayes out the rest of the week. I’m trying to get a feel for his value. I see a guy who should be a starting OT. That means at least the 3rd round. We’ll see how the rest of his week goes.

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Now for some quick notes.

WR Jayden Reed would be an interesting target. He played well in the WR drills, but also was the best PR. Reed is 5-11, 191 and he showed good speed. The Eagles need better depth at WR next year. I’d like a PR with more juice. Britain Covey has improved, but I just don’t see the long speed from him and I don’t know if he’ll ever contribute as a receiver.

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We don’t know if Miles Sanders will be back. One potential replacement would be Roschon Johnson. He was the backup at Texas this year, but only because he was behind the best RB in the nation (Bijan Robinson). Johnson stood out as a runner, blocker and receiver today. He is 6-1, 225 and a downhill runner. He’s comfortable in space and is a natural pass-catcher.

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Karl Brooks measured in at 6-3, 303. That’s DT size. He was more of an edge at Bowling Green. He handled that role well, but isn’t going to play outside in the NFL. Brooks moved inside and had a strong day.

He caught my eye multiple times. The Eagles might have DL holes with Cox and Hargrave uncertain to return. Brooks is the kind of disruptive player and pass rusher I think they’d like upfront.

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I thought Julius Brents was the best CB on the field today. He’s big at 6-3, 202. He’s also instinctive and athletic. He won’t be a Top 50 pick, but has starting potential.

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I thought Tyson Bagent was the best QB for either team. He is a D-2 guy, but didn’t look like it. Bagent had a live arm and showed good mechanics. He has quick feet and looks like an NFL QB.

Max Duggan was a Heisman finalist and led his team to the national title game. I thought he struggled. Not the kind of day he was hoping for.

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Andrei Iosivas is a WR from Princeton. He’s 6-3, 212 and can fly. I thought he had a good showing. He made some tough catches and showed good hands. Big. Fast. Hands. That sounds like someone worth drafting.

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I’ve got plenty more guys to cover, but I’ll stop here for now.

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One national football analyst walked up to a group sitting near me and said “Boy were we wrong about the Eagles!”

It felt like this might have been something said at last year’s Senior Bowl, when there were plenty of reasons to doubt the team. They were coming off a beatdown by Tampa. Jalen Hurts was a question mark. The WRs were an issue. The pass rush was an issue. We weren’t sure if Jason Kelce was coming back. The secondary had holes.

The analyst raved about Nick Sirianni and Hurts and how good of a season those guys had.

It really is amazing to think how far this team came from last January.

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2 Comments on “Hurts and Senior Bowl Talk”

  1. 1 Eagles News: Haason Reddick is one “bad dude” - Amazon Offers Pro said at 10:54 AM on February 1st, 2023:

    […] Hurts and Senior Bowl Talk – Iggles BlitzPlays like that are why teams are scared of Hurts keeping the ball. They know what a playmaker he is. Let’s also point out that Hurts didn’t have any turnovers. The Niners, with the best defense in the league, had forced at least 2 turnovers in a game for the past 5 games. They came up with INTs, FFs and strip sacks. They got the best of a lot of different QBs and teams. Hurts gave them nothing. He will need to play better for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. KC will score points. The good news is that the Chiefs don’t have the best defense in the league. Hurts and the Eagles should be able to move the ball and score points. […]

  2. 2 Game Review - NFC CG - PHI 31, SF 7 said at 10:15 PM on February 1st, 2023:

    […] I wrote about Hurts yesterday. Put simply, he didn’t play his best game, but he made some key throws and led his team to 31 points. He was critical to the success of the run game. He also didn’t have any turnovers. […]